My dog is definitely Mexican...

This morning Ben and I were standing in the kitchen when I tried to jump on him. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that I kneed our makeshift liquor cabinet. Ben’s most expensive bottle of tequila fell to the ground and splattered.

From out of nowhere Sylvester comes to survey the damage. As I am apologizing and picking up the glass, Sylvester is sniffing around.

Next thing you know he is rolling around on the carpet where the tequila spilled. We try to push him away but he keeps coming back for more. The tequila was like cat nip! He even found the towel that we soaked it up with and was in heaven. I guess the Chihuahua in him smelled home…

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

Let New Year begin...

7:30 AM….that is the time that Ben and I rolled out of bed on New Year’s Day. After our night of fun, it was a STRUGGLE. Why did we torture ourselves and get out of bed that early? For the our traditional (we have done it twice now, official tradition) trip to the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma!

This year, Ben and I invited Jon and Erych to join us. Miraculously, they were ready to go before us! So we picked them up and headed to Winstar. The ride up wasn’t too bad. We were all tired from the night before and I think Jon and Erych both took a little nap. In tradition fashion, we stopped at IHOP in Gainesville to have breakfast with my mom and her friend. This year, they were running late so what did we do to pass the time….. CATCH PHRASE! We probably looked like crazies hanging out in my car yelling inaudible words at each other.

My mom finally got to IHOP and I finally convinced the boys that Catch Phrase in IHOP was a very bad idea. So we all ate breakfast and headed to the Casino…..of course with a 10 min game of Catch Phrase along the way. (See the addiction, yet)

Once we got there, the four of use headed to slot machines. Of course, we lost my mom and her friend so we had to figure out how to lose money on our own. We played tons of penny machines with loud noises and bright lights. Is it bad that I pick out my machines by the pretty colors and lights? I think not. Ben played some Black Jack too. We played for about 3 or hours so. I don’t think anyone won anything although Ben pretty much broke even.

Also while we were there, we had a free Caricature made. Jon and Erych made mugshot ones and Ben and I had one with me punching him (Love!). When we finally got ours back, I was a little confused though. Somehow some Mexican girl took my place. The only way you could recognize it was supposed to be me was because of the huge boobs the artist drew in. Oh well! Maybe next time, I can get in the picture and not my boobs. :D

After lunch of greasy pizza, we all got in the car and headed back to Dallas. I had a huge headache…..but it didn’t stop us from playing Catch Phrase again and screaming for the hour long drive. After the drive, I was finally able to get some excedrin and ice cream. Needless to say, it was a great day to start off the New Year.

NYE 2009!!!

I have always enjoyed bringing in the New Year, but is even better when it leads into a long weekend. For New Year’s Eve, I invited a couple of friends to come over to the apartment, have some drinks and food and then walk over to Dallas’ outside gathering/celebration.

As soon as I got off of work, I rushed home to meet Ben. We picked up the free wristbands (most pointless thing ever) for the Downtown Celebration Party, ran to Target so Ben could buy a beanie, to the store to pick up food and drinks and then back home to get ready.

I made cupcakes and awesome Jalapeno/Artichoke dip. Ben on the other hand went really gourmet. He heated up some quesadilla rolls and bagel bites. We popped open some champagne and waited for our friends.

My Gay Husband Casey was the first to show up. Since Casey showed up, we decided we could start eating the snackies. Who would have thought that Ben’s food would be gone in less than 30 seconds? Man, those bad boys were good. At least my dip and cupcakes lasted for our other guests.

Soon after the ‘Stuff your face and hide the evidence of other food’ event ended, Jon and Erych showed up. We all had more drinks. I added “Bling String” (as seen on TV!) to mine and Jon’s hair and then… we broke out Catch Phrase. Oh Sweet Jesus! This game is awesome. Especially after everyone has been drinking. Needless to say, we played this for awhile and then Angel and her man showed up and joined the festivities. More Bling String, more Catch Phrase, more inappropriate comments and guesses and of course more drinks.

Finally someone realized we all weren’t just hanging out to play the little electronic nugget of fun known as Catch Phrase. So we all bundled up, took mini bottles of champagne and hid them in our coats, grabbed our noise makers and pop bottle thingys and headed to the Big D NYE Celebration.

Since we left so late for fun, we decided to leave the wristbands and just stand wherever we could. After the extremely noisy walk (Tipsy Jon and Stephanie should never be given noise makers of any kind), we made it to the celebration. Victory Park was nowhere near full, so we got new wristbands and walked into the fun. Jon and I also decided we weren’t impressed by the live band so we made our own music with our noise makers (once again, never let us have these). So while some people were enjoying their drinks and the music, my group decided to have their own fireworks as well…..and by fireworks, 5 million camera flashes for the last paparazzi photo session of the year.

As 2010 got closer, we all pulled out our contraband champagne and made a toast. When the New Year came in, we all mugged down (no, not together), screamed, cheered, made more awful noise with the noise makers and watched the Fireworks. It was so much fun. I am so glad we went and brought in the New Year with some friends.

Finally, we made it back to apartment, had more cupcakes and of course started playing with our new addiction…..Catch Phrase. Needless to say, I had a great night with everyone. And with great nights, come not so great mornings...

Noise maker fun:

From NYE 2009

Victory Park:

From NYE 2009

Champagne Toast:

From NYE 2009

Some Fireworks:

From NYE 2009

Me and My Man:

From NYE 2009

The Group:

From NYE 2009

HAPPY 2010!!!! Stayed tuned for the rest of the weekend...

Coolest Collars Ever!

So I found out that my coworker makes dog collars as a hobby/side business. For Christmas, I decided to hook up all the dogs in my family with some collars. Having no idea what the collars would be like or look like, I left it up to Finula (my coworker) to create whatever she thought would look good. I sent her a list of the dogs (8 of them!), their names, and a little bit about their personalities.

Needless to say, I was shocked by the outcome! She is amazing at her craft. Here are a few pictures:

This was for my brother’s dog Olive….can you guess what kind of dog she is?

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

This one was for my brother’s dog Martini!

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

And of course, many of you may know that my boy also goes by Murderface. He LOVES his collar.

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

As for the other collars…..

Kramer - He seriously has a licking problem and never stops. Finula made a collar that says: Kramer – Official Air Taste Tester

Roxy – She got the cutest collar with blue fabric and little birds and flowers….danty, just like her! Ha!

Scully – Hers was tons of dog pictures and her name. It was really colorful and cool.

Tag – A picture of a Schnauzer (that looked exactly like him) and his name

JJ – She made him a Boston Bichon collar with Boston Red Sox logo and a bichon playing baseball. Too cute. JJ just came to the family from Boston so it is perfect for him.

I will try and update with some pictures later on…

So if you are interested in a collar, check out www.mydogisspoton.com. They are only $15 and some of the proceeds go to charity. She can do anything you want….I already have 3 more orders for her.